Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff believes the FIA purposefully tried to slow the Silver Arrows down, something which the Austrian insists played a part in Lewis Hamilton losing the 2021 Drivers’ Championship.
From 2014-2020, Mercedes received very little competition, with the side having claimed both championships in every season.
However, it all suddenly changed in 2021, where their advantage had completely disappeared.
The FIA introduced a slight regulation change which appeared to cost Mercedes more than anybody else, with Red Bull having suddenly become the strongest team.
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Red Bull’s 2021 was arguably superior to Mercedes’ W12, despite the fact Max Verstappen and Hamilton entered the final race of the season level on points.
Whilst it’s well documented what happened at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix that season, Wolff insists that there were other factors which led to Hamilton not becoming an unprecedented eight-time World Champion.
“2020 had been a super dominant year for us,” Wolff told Sky Sports.
“I think it was the best car we ever had. Then, towards the end of the season, they changed the regulations by cutting the floor and that was to stop us.”
It’s not just Michael Masi’s rule breaks which cost Hamilton in Wolff’s eyes, with the regulation change introduced by the FIA also having an impact.
“We lost the 2021 drivers’ championship for many reasons,” Wolff said.
“One was the final race. But we also lost it because those regulations were set in place in order to reduce the advantage we had.”
Hamilton’s and Verstappen’s 2021 title fight was one for the history books, despite its controversial conclusion.
Their rivalry really came alive following their high-speed collision at the 2021 British Grand Prix, a weekend where Mercedes unlocked some performance.
Across the entire season though, it was Red Bull with the better package, something which makes Wolff convinced that the FIA wanted to “reset the pecking order”.
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“We saw the results in 2021; we were not as competitive as Red Bull was,” he said.
“But at Silverstone, we unlocked more potential of the car and got ourselves back into the championship.
“These regulations were targeted to reset the pecking order.”